-Caveat Lector- http://www.msnbc.com/news/475547.asp U.S. citizen suspected in Cole attack U.S. sources say suspect held in Jordan has ties to bin Laden <photo> A port-side view shows the damage sustained by the USS Cole after a suspected terrorist bomb exploded during a refueling operation Oct. 12 in in the port of Aden. NBC NEWS AND WIRE REPORTS WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 — An American citizen alleged to have close links to Islamic militant Osama bin Laden is a prime suspect in the alleged terrorist attack on the USS Cole in October, U.S. government sources told NBC News on Monday. Jaed Hijazi, described by the sources as a Muslim militant, is in custody in Jordan and has told investigators of plans to also “attack U.S. military aircraft” in the Persian Gulf and Middle East. ‘We are a victim of terrorism, not a source of terrorism.’ — FOREIGN MINISTER ABDULKADER BAJAMMAL ACCORDING TO one U.S. official, Hijazi has “been at the top of our hit list for sometime.” Hijazi was taken into custody by the Syrian government last month, and was turned over to Jordan where he has already been tried, convicted and sentenced to death in abstentia for plotting to attack U.S and Israeli targets during the millennium celebrations. Jordan now plans to retry Hijazi. The government sources told NBC News that Hijazi has “direct links” to bin Laden, who today is America’s No. 1 terrorist suspect in the Oct. 12 bombing in the Yemeni port of Aden of the USS Cole, which killed 17 sailors and wounded 39. Hijazi “personally trained and supported” those responsible for the Cole attack, the sources said. The United States has been tracking Hijazi for at least eight months and “he’s clearly implicated in the attack,” sources said. A U.S. diplomat has already visited Hijazi in jail in Amman and U.S. officials are hopeful his citizenship will make it easier to extradite him for trial in the United States on any possible terrorism charges. YEMEN CITES U.S. Separately, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abdulkader Bajammal said Monday that United States itself bears some responsibility for the attack on the Cole because it helped create the terrorists who now consider America their worst enemy. In an interview with The Associated Press, Bajammal also said Yemen wants to work closely with the United States to combat terrorism. “The operation was not Yemeni, not pure Yemeni,” Bajammal said. “It is a network involving so many countries. Terrorism has no nation.” No one has yet been charged in the Oct. 12 bombing. Asked if any indictments were forthcoming, Bajammal said he had no information, noting it was not his area of responsibility. But Bajammal said that if any Yemenis are found to have been involved, they may have simply been corrupt bureaucrats who provided logistical help in exchange for “a little baksheesh,” — or payoffs — not out of ideology. “We are a victim of terrorism, not a source of terrorism,” Bajammal added. Attack in Yemen The attack on the Cole followed anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli protests in Yemen and across an Arab world enraged by violence in Palestinian areas. Nearly 300 people — mostly Palestinians — have been killed in Israeli-Palestinian clashes since September. But the roots of anti-American terrorism are older and deeper, running back to the 1980s when one of the last-gasp Cold War battles was waged in the rugged mountains and valleys of Afghanistan. Bajammal said that because the investigation was continuing, he could not comment on the possibility that Yemeni or other Arab veterans of the Afghan war were involved in the Cole attack. But, he said, “Terrorism did not appear by accident. It is a historical phenomenon. Just as the Soviet Union created a man like (the international terrorist) Carlos, the other side created the Afghan Arabs. We have inherited the remnants of the Cold War.” U.S. REJECTS BLAME In Washington, a senior U.S. official said the Clinton administration rejects any suggestion that the United States is somehow responsible for the Cole attack. He spoke to the Associated Press condition of anonymity. Yemen, whose central government is struggling to expand authority over tribal areas, has long been a haven for Muslim extremists, including groups linked to bin Laden. Bin Laden was one of the thousands of fighters from across the Arab world who went to Afghanistan after the 1979 Soviet incursion to fight alongside Afghan guerrillas, whose chief financial and military backers included the United States. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, many so-called Afghan Arabs turned their anger against the United States, which they see as a threat to Islam and to Arab independence. Bin Laden continues to live in Afghanistan, where he periodically issues calls for violence against the United States. Yemeni leaders, embarrassed to have a U.S. ship attacked in their waters just as they were trying to expand relations with Washington, at first rejected the idea that Yemenis could have had anything to do with the Cole attack. But Yemeni sources close to the inquiry, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said several Yemenis had key roles in organizing the attack. Other Yemenis working for the government allegedly helped the bombers by providing fake identification and other documents. Bajammal said his government wants stronger ties with the United States, despite signs of anti-American sentiment among the Yemeni people. The United States and Yemen signed an agreement last week calling for cooperation between U.S. and Yemeni investigators trying to determine who was behind the bombing of the USS Cole after it entered Aden harbor for refueling. Details of the cooperation agreement have not been officially released. A U.S. law enforcement official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said in Washington last week that the agreement called for FBI agents to observe interviews of witnesses and suspects and submit questions for Yemeni agents to ask. U.S. officials have said this arrangement preserves Yemeni sovereignty, while allowing FBI agents to testify later in U.S. courts, if charges are brought there, that torture was not used to extract statements. Bajammal said he hoped for more and broader agreements with the United States. He said Yemen needed U.S. technology, equipment and training to strengthen security and fight terrorism. A U.S. official in San’a, speaking on condition of anonymity, said cooperation between the United States and Yemen was likely to increase in the aftermath of attack on the Cole. The Cole and other U.S. warships that patrol the Gulf had been refueling at Yemen’s southern port of Aden as part of an effort to bring the United States and Yemen closer. Yemeni investigators have reportedly completed their probe and recommended to prosecutors that at least two unidentified people be charged in the bombing. It was not clear when prosecutors would act or whether a trial would begin before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends in late December. The USS Cole is part of the battle group of the aircraft carrier George Washington, now deployed in the Persian Gulf to monitor ship traffic there. The Cole, launched in 1994, is one of 28 Arleigh Burke class destroyers in the U.S. Navy. Select a topic above for more information. Crew: The Cole carries 350 sailors and Marines and is part of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet based in Norfolk, Va. The Cole is named for a U.S. Marine Corps hero. Its captain, Commander Kirk Liphold, took over in mid-1999 after serving as an administrative assistant to the secretary of the navy. Armament: Like all Arleigh Burke class destroyers, the Cole's main role is protecting its carrier from attack. Thus it carries an array of anti-aircraft weapons, including Standard surface-to-air (SAM) missiles and Vulcan close-defense gatling guns. All of this is coordinated by highly sophisticated Aegis radar. But the Cole is also highly capable of striking at other targets on land or sea. The Cole carries 56 Tomahawk cruise missiles as well as 8 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Size and composition: The Cole is a small ship relative to its huge carrier -- about 9,000 tons as opposed the George Washington's 102,000 tons. The ship is 504 feet long and 66 feet across at its widest point. Speed and composition: The Cole, like all Arleigh Burke class destroyers, features a steel hull and superstructure, making them less vulnerable than their predecessors which had steel hulls and aluminum superstructures but not as strong as WWII-era destroyers. Modern naval design operates under the theory that the advanced radar arrays on ships like the Cole would keep it out of range of such weapons so it does not need to be as weighed down with heavy materials. The Cole is capable of speeds of up to 32 knots. Source: Jane's Information Group NBC News’s Jim Miklaszewski, The Associated Press contributed to this report. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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